Farm girl turned city girl turned suburban mom. My degree is in Family and Consumer Science Education...that's "home ec" to the old school crowd. While I've spent a good deal of time as both a student and a teacher exploring the ins and outs of food and nutrition, baking, and meal planning, I credit countless hours in the kitchen with my mom and 10 years of 4-H with providing the foundation for my knowledge of all things food and my love of cooking.

In Case You Don't Have One Yet: My Go-To Cookbook

All of the basics and then some...

I'm all about the crock pot dinner!

Meet the Mother of all Fix-it-and-Forget-It Cookbooks!

Here's What I'm Cooking With....

The Anolon Professional Hard Anodized Nonstick 12-Piece Cookware Set. After 2 years of putting this set to the test EVERY DAY, it is holding up beautifully!
If you're in the market for new cookware...this is a great value! Right now it's marked down from $803.00 to $179.99. WOW!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Last weekend we travelled home to Indiana and threw a big birthday party for our daughter-a pizza party with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all in attendance. She loved her birthday party and had a wonderful time, but she was still a little bummed on the way home. "I wanted a party with my friends at home too." She pouted as we drove across the state line and into Ohio. Being the occasional over-indulgent parent that I am, I caved. "Well, maybe we can have a couple of your friends over for cake and ice cream next weekend." Tough negotiator that she is, she came back with, "No cake. Just ice cream." The kid despises birthday cake. Why? She can't stand frosting. (Who is this kid?!) "Okay, just ice cream" I agreed. Hey-no need to spend hours constructing another Ariel birthday cake. Like I was going to argue. So, at the after school pick-up this week, I mentioned to some of the neighborhood moms that we'd be having a little ice cream social at our house on Saturday in honor of my daughter's birthday. I'm glad I indulged her this time. It turns out that a couple of her friends were a little miffed that they'd been excluded from the out-of-state birthday celebration she'd talked about all week AND it gave me the opportunity to try out 2 wonderful ice cream topping recipes!

If you're looking for a fun birthday party on a budget, then try this! We'd already spent more that we budgeted on the weekend festivities back in Indiana. So, for this party, I picked up a big bucket of ice cream at ALDI ($4.99), a bunch of paper bowls at Walgreen's ($1.50) and 2 rolls of streamers ($2). Napkins are also a good idea (Luckily I keep an abundance of those on hand). I already had most of the sundae topping ingredients in my kitchen: Oreos, candy, whipped cream, and the ingredients for peanut butter and hot fudge sauce. With little time for planning games, I set out my daughter's favorite board games around the house (Candyland, Operation, Chutes and Ladders, and Ned's Head). At school they call them stations or centers. My daughter quickly pointed out this comparison. The kids were thrilled. Of course, we put up the bounce house in the lawn too. Oh, and favors? I just poured the leftover candies from the sundae bar into clear plastic cups and sent them home with the happy kiddos as they departed.

In order to save time before the party, I dished out the ice cream the night before, then covered it and put the bowl-filled trays into our basement freezer.

This afternoon before the guests arrived, I set out all of the toppings: homemade hot fudge and peanut butter sauce (recipe below),chopped or crushed Oreos, M & M's, bananas, chopped peanuts, whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles.

Then I put those 2 rolls of streamers to work!

Gather a group of your favorite kiddos (or adults) around a table,

then supervise as they build their sundaes! This is the creation of one of my daughter's friends.

Once the kids were served, I moved the toppings into the kitchen and the adults went to town!

Here's my creation. Lots of hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, and whipped cream, sprinkled with peanuts, and topped with a cherry. It was perfection! It's pretty safe to say that the adults enjoyed the sundae bar even more than the kiddos.

Let's talk about the seriously delicious Peanut Butter Sauce.

It's easy to make...in the microwave no less!

Just combine a cup of brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a microwaveable dish.

Then heat to boiling in the microwave, for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, stirring twice.

The hot fudge sauce also came together quickly and is oh-so-decadent. I had to stash the leftovers at the back of the top shelf of my fridge because every time my daughters walk past, they beg for another spoonful!

Just melt 3/4 cup of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup of butter in a small saucepan.

Then stir in 2/3 cup of sugar.

And gradually add 2/3 cup of evaporated milk, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and boil over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring frequently.